Food, I have come to know, is a universal language. Take my friend, Leonard, and me. We were born six days apart in the same year, in the same country, but we come from vastly different backgrounds: Me from the ‘Afrikaanse Vrystaat vlaktes’; he from Durban and of Indian descent. Somewhere in between, our paths crossed. Since then, we have cried and laughed and drank for hours in the kitchen, chopping away on chillies, garlic and ginger, and making masalas. In sharing our passion for food, we have cemented a friendship full of so many wonderful ingredients.

{This recipe was inspired by an ingredient list I received from Pick n Pay for their freshlyblogged challenge #9 competition}

Leonard has shown me all the tricks when it comes to Indian cooking. So for my fine dining dish, I wanted to pay tribute to my Gandhi, my life teacher and my friend. I want to take out the finest white linen and the finest silver and serve this Indian-flavoured salmon atop a lentil dhal. On the side, a crunchy raw beetroot and cumin salad sitting on a layer of fennel cucumber ribbons. The deconstructed milk tart, spiced with star anise, is a bit of my heritage. Both dishes brought together by the bond of friendship and spices.

So I would like to raise a glass to food journeys and friendships… And to Len: My guide and mentor on my very own passage to India.

I am by nature a foodie and as foodies go, we all have our foodie idols … One of my foodie idols is Chef Peter Tempelhoff – not only is he a great chef but also not too shabby on the eye – oh, who am I kidding everyone … he is hot! And if you come to my office you will see an A3 poster of him hanging next to my desk … but to my utter dismay two of my wonderful colleagues Johann and Pieter gave Chef Tempelhoff a mustache and a tattoo 🙂 … Anyway, two weeks ago I attended the Table of Peace and Unity lunch on the slopes of our wonderful Table Mountain and Peter Tempelhoff was one of the chefs responsible for the starter [miso sesame cured salmon and ginger prawn spring roll with soja jalapeno dressing]. I don’t know if it was the dish or perhaps him walking past that inspired me to do something hot with salmon. So later in the week I visited my Chinese supermarket for some ingredients and over the weekend made this really delicious, salmon in a hot and sour Asian broth. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did! It’s so easy … so tasty and so fresh … and cheers to the hot chef who inspired me to make this dish!

1L Chicken stock (I use stock cubes for this – that’s what they do in Asia :-))

2-3 Green chillies (...if you like things a little hotter, spice it up with one more ... but not too many as it will overpower your dish )

+-20cm piece of lemongrass – crushed with the back of your knife and cut into pieces (if you cannot find it but you do stay in Cape Town – contact me, I have a huge bush in my garden!)

1 Garlic clove – finely sliced

1 Thumb size piece of fresh ginger – finely sliced

¼ Cup of soya sauce

4ml Sesame oil - just under a teaspoon (be very careful that you don’t overdo the sesame oil)

Juice of 2 limes (small) or 1 lemon

2 Spring onions – chopped diagonally into thin slices

Handful of fresh coriander – roughly shredded by hand

Bean sprouts to garnish and to add some crunch

Instructions

In a saucepan or pot add all the ingredients for the broth – except the spring onions, coriander and bean sprouts. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 5-10 minutes allowing all the flavours to infuse.

In a non stick pan fry the salmon until brown on both sides - +-2-3 minutes on each side should do. The salmon must still be rare inside – but you must be able to flake it with a fork. Season with salt and pepper.

To serve: Pour some of the broth through a sieve into a 4 bowls, add some spring onion and coriander. Put the salmon in the middle of the bowls and add some bean sprouts to garnish. I love fresh ginger so I always add the ginger I used for the broth in my bowl.